ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the clinical value on the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen mRNA (CEA mRNA), cytokeratin 19 mRNA (CK19 mRNA) and telomerase in blood for the monitoring of blood metastasis of lung cancer. Methods CEA mRNA and CK19 mRNA were detected by reverse transcriptase-nested primers-polymerase chain reaction, telomerase was detected by telomeric repeat amplification protocol-hybridism-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in peripheral blood. Results The positive rates of the three tumor markers in lung cancer group were much higher than the non-tumor group and the health group (P<0.001). The sensibility of CEA mRNA and telomerase were much higher than CK19 mRNA (P<0.01). The positive rates of the markers in TNM stages Ⅲ and Ⅳ were much higher than in stages Ⅰ (P<0.05 to P<0.01). Conclusion It had high value that detecting CEA mRNA, CK19 mRNA and telomerase in peripheral blood on the discovery of blood metastasis of lung cancer. Among them, the clinical value of CEA mRNA and telomerase are higher than CK19 mRNA, and combined assay of the markers can improve the sensibility.